Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Top 10 Richest People in the World

This list of the 10 wealthiest people is a list of the world's 10 wealthiest people as of February 11, 2008, based on each person's total net worth. The total net worth is an estimate measured in United States dollars, based on the closing stock prices of the stock exchanges on which each person's company is listed, and exchange rates on February 11, 2008. Stock prices are defined as shares of ownership in a corporation, and exchange rates are defined as how much one currency is worth in terms of another. This list only represents each person's valuation on a single day due to daily fluctuations among exchange rates and stock valuations. The list does not include heads of state whose wealth is tied to their position (see list of heads of government and state by net worth).
  1. Warren Buffett (US)
  2. Carlos Slim (Mexico)
  3. Bill Gates (US)
  4. Lakshmi Mittal (India)
  5. Mukesh Ambani (India)
  6. Anil Ambani (India)
  7. Ingvar Kamprad (Sweden)
  8. KP Singh (India)
  9. Oleg Deripaska (Russia)
  10. Karl Albrecht (Germany)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Criticism and allegations

Involvement in Notes-for-Vote scandal

Further information: Notes-for-Vote scandal and 2008 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence

Prominent British think-tank Oxford Analytica quotes[3]:

"When four Marxist parties forced a confidence vote (held on July 22) by withdrawing their support over the issue of a nuclear energy deal with the US, Anil played an important role in securing the requisite backing to keep the government intact -- at a cost estimated at some three million dollars per vote," it added.

"Where the SP's rapprochement with the ruling Congress Party will leave Mukesh and the older Reliance Industries is now a matter of open conjecture."

Economic Times noted[4]:

Since July 7, when it became clear that Amar Singh, who is considered to be close to Anil Ambani, and his Samajwadi Party (SP) would support the government, the market capitalisation of Anil's holdings in six companies increased by 24% to Rs 1,41,415 crore. That means, he became richer by almost Rs 27,000 crore [~ USD 7 billion].

Career

Ambani joined Reliance, the company founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and is credited with having pioneered many financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. For example, he led India's first forays into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and bonds. He directed Reliance in its efforts to raise, since 1991, around US$2 billion from overseas financial markets; with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997 being the high point, after which people regarded him as a financial wizard[citation needed]. He has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading textiles, petroleum, petrochemicals, power, and telecom company.

Anil was the member of Uttar Pradesh Development Council (This council has now been scrapped) He is also the Chairman of Board of Governors of DA-IICT, Gandhinagar and a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is member of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is also a member of the Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - Upper House, Parliament of India with the support of the Samajwadi Party. In March 2006, he resigned. Recently after his brother Mukesh Ambani he also has his name in the list of Indian Trillionaires(In terms of Indian Rupee).[citation needed]

Anil has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his current wife of more than 15 years. He is a close friend of movie star Amitabh Bachchan[citation needed] . One of his major achievements in the entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs, the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that owns Mumbai's only dome theatre.

[edit] Awards

  • Voted Businessman of the Year 2006 by Times of India-TNS poll [1]
  • Adjudged as the CEO of the Year at the prestigious Platts Global Energy Awards for 2004.
  • Voted 'MTV Youth Icon of the Year', September 2003.
  • Conferred 'The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award' by the Bombay Management Association, October 2002.
  • Awarded the First Wharton Indian Alumni Award by the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) in recognition of his contribution to the establishment of Reliance as a global leader in many of its business areas, December 2001.
  • Conferred the 'Businessman of the Year 1997' award by India's leading business magazine Business India, December 1997.

Education

Ambani holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Mumbai and an MBA degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, he serves as a member of the Wharton Board of Overseers.

Introduction

Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications and Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Energy, and was formerly Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited. His personal stake in Reliance Communications is 66%.[1]. Reliance group is India's largest business house, founded by Anil's late father Dhirubhai Ambani (1938-2002). His mother is Kokilaben Ambani. He is married to Tina Ambani (Munim) who was a well known Indian Actress in early 80's, and with whom he has two sons, Jai Anmol and Jai Anshul. He has been linked with buying Newcastle United and Everton premier league football clubs.

The total investors' wealth in the four Anil Ambani Group firms -- Reliance Communications (RCOM), Reliance Capital (RCL), Reliance Energy (REL) and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) has reached 1,42,384 crore rupees, while total promoter holding is estimated at about Rs 87,000 crore. Anil's wealth comes mostly from his over 65 per cent stake in RCOM, which has a market cap of about Rs 1,03,000 crore. He also has over 50 per cent in RCL (market cap of Rs 24,000 crore), 35 per cent in REL (market cap of Rs 12,700 crore) and close to 54 per cent in RNRL, which has a market cap of about Rs 2,600 crore.His net worth subsequently plunges by over 60% owing to poor stock market condition in India led by ADAG stocks.

Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani (born June 4, 1959) is an Indian businessman. As of October 6th 2007, he has a net-worth of US$42 billion, making him the 6th richest person in the world. His was the world's fastest-growing multi-billion-dollar fortune in percentage terms as his wealth tripled in 1 year.

During 2006-current, he's also in the limelight due to his increasing disputes with his own brother Mukesh Ambani.